Topics

1

Museum Submarine Discussion / Facts about Teak Decking

« on: February 21, 2011, 12:30:35 AM »

Thought I posted this, but can't find it, so if I did, sorry about that.
We want to put back the teak decking on the Marlin, but don't have any to see what the size of each piece is. I was wondering if most subs used the same width and thickness for their decking? I'll include a picture showing the Marlin with decking on it. Looks to me like maybe around 2 and 1/4" wide and maybe 3/4 or 7/8" thick. We do have access to a planer if needed.

Thanks,
Viejo

2

Museum Submarine Discussion / Existing and new Sail Displays

« on: October 11, 2010, 07:34:12 PM »

Just wanted to let those who read these pages and that might be considering doing such a project and or those who would like to see what these projects might look like to first go to the USSVI pages
 https://www.ussvi.org/home.asp 
and then under sub memorials, click on the various states and you'll find 9 of the Nuc boats with sail planes up there. Also the Triton is up there and several of our WWII boats.
For those who would like to have help in getting such a project started, Andy Metzger of the USS Marlin Base is involved with such a project at this time. Because of starting such a project, he has current prices and also has found out what is involved.  He is in Washington DC quite often, works with many in the Navy and has information on all boats who are scheduled for scrapping in the next few years and also on who the project manager is for each boat. Drop me a note and I'll put you in touch with him.
Viejo

3

Museum Submarine Discussion / Congratulations to Lance Dean and Tom Bowser

« on: September 07, 2010, 12:28:54 AM »

Both Lance and Tom received the Robert Link Award at the 2010 USSVI Convention.  The Robert Link Award is given by the National Commander for those who have done outstanding work during the year to advance our creed. Lances' website and Tom's work on the Drum have done a lot to educate and teach others about those shipmates who died while serving on subs. They also have helped the public understand the role that submarines and those who serve in them have in keeping this country free. This website has done a lot to bring together those of us who work with museum boats and has helped us in reaching our goals with our subs.
My congratulations to both of them for a well deserved recognition of what they hve done.
Viejo.

4

Museum Submarine Discussion / Fate of the Clamagore

« on: June 23, 2010, 02:03:43 PM »

Got this this morning from Gumba via Bill Parker.  A really sad ending.  I am very fortunate to work for a park that can spend what is needed to prevent this from happening with their ships. Having them out of the water of course saves a lot of upkeep. Maybe someone will figure a way to save it, but doesn't look good. 
Viejo

///SOB
=======

It is with great sadness that I have to report that the USS CLAMAGORE SS 343 , the last FRAM 3 GUPPY,will be removed from Patriot Point and sold for scrap metal.


The Point has not recieved any of the federal funds they were promised,and so to cut costs,the Destroyer USS LAFFEY,which recently underwent 9.2 million dollars in repairs will be sold to another city, and the Clamagore,which requires 3 million dollars in repairs will be sold for junk.
I will keep you informed,and I still hope for a last minute reprieve.
 
STSCS(SS) Sid Busch,USN(RET)

5

Website Updates and Off-Topic Discussion / Paul Farace's Dad passes away

« on: May 29, 2010, 11:38:56 PM »

Shipmates:  read the note from Paul that his dad has passed on. I know all of you will want to let Paul know you are thinking of him. Sounded like his dad was a very interesting guy. I lost my dad when he was 89 and it still was too soon. I learned a lot from my dad  and know Paul had a good relationship with his dad also. 
Viejo

6

USS Marlin (SST-2) / New work being done on the Marlin

« on: March 27, 2010, 11:46:33 PM »

Finally met up with Dennis Bryers, park architect and he is going to be of great benefit to us.  We are now working on items noted in the last inspection, that just came to light. By that I mean the inspection had been laying around for 8 months no one seemed to know it actually had to have items looked at and fixed.  Most are minor like taking an antenna wire out of the aft escape hatch. Some the city is doing such as putting together a fire alarm system and writing an Emergency Procedures Manual to fit with their rules. The two biggest projects are figuring how to lift up one end of the boat at a time so as to take out some wood that is between the ship and the supports and replacing that with neoprene. Also we will be building a ramp from the port side of the aft escape hatch to the ground as a second fire exit. So plenty for the volunteers to work on.
We are having a meeting next week between officers at Stratcom and Parks and Rec to see how much help they can give us. For sure they want to start lining up volunteers from the active duty types and from those Retired Navy people who work at Stratcom.
I also finally got the park set up as a RSVP site. Anyone wanting info on what it is how to do it and forms needed, let me know. I am busy writing up forms to be used for the volunteers to fit their program and also forms that allow RSVP to advertise for volunteers in several job categories. There are some good benefits to having those over 55 all signed up as RSVP. They give limited mileage reimbursements, free liability insurance and other things.
Dennis is also planning on starting on some grants for the park and the new Director of Parks and Rec is setting up a foundation for all the parks. We will probably have more things to input than most of the parks as we are in the process of defining long term goals and needs.  Dennis, like myself, wants to push for a new building to house classrooms for the students that are starting to schedule tours, to be a  non-lending library/museum, and space for an office and gift shop. Lots to do to get that to happen, but at least we have people who understand the needs and want it to happen.
So I'll keep all updated as more gets done. 
Viejo

7

Submarine Related Chatter / Pictures of USSVI chapters on the museum boats

« on: March 17, 2010, 09:45:57 PM »

John Mansfield is trying to put together a power point of base/chaptes and their activities in the community.  I would like to see a lot of what he uses have museum boats in it, so if any would like to email me pictures you might have of ceremonies held on your boat, or of groups of subvets working on the boat or anything like that, I'd appreciate it. so far only 4 of the 155 bases have responded, so we have a chance to load up the PP with museum boat pictures. Please let me know the ship and the base, names won't be used he said.
Thanks,
viejo  sub_ssn589@yahoo.com
I was also wondering what you guys would think about a facebook page just for pictures in one page of all museum boats.  Don't want to steal anyone's thunder or take away from something someone is doing, but thought maybe that would be a place more likely for some to find than trying to find each boat. We could of course list and link to othe facebook pages and to websites and people could comment there and talk about their boats, etc. Just an idea. I'd be glad to do the page if people think worthwhile.

8

Museum Submarine Discussion / Raising some help for museum boats

« on: March 16, 2010, 07:58:09 PM »

Over at the LIB BBS under Misc Base Affairs, then the topic Questions, we have been discussing ways of getting help to museum boats. This includes fund raising, both large and small, and of course volunteers.  One of the members suggeste that finding the answers to a list I'll post below, might help get more help and support for our boats. Wondered what you guys thought.
Viejo.

Let me suggest a first pass list of tasks we should consider:
1.) Determine the owner and opperating athority of each museum boat.
2.) Establish a point of contact for each boat.
3.) Have (request) each POC list a support plan for their boat with the cost for each action required.
4.) Tally up the cost of each boat to determine how large this elephant is we are trying to eat.
5.) Decide whether or not our participation Is possible.
6.) If we decide to support, we have a new list to prepare:
a.) Establish a fund raising body with members and their assistants who have real fund raising experience.
b.) Let these folks generate a plan which includes things we at the member level can do to support their master plan.
c.) Once these funds begin to flow, we assign a member to each boat to laison with their POC to decide and execute each task on their priortized plan.
d.) We will certainly find ourselves fund limited, but the shortfalls can be prioritized and become candidates for ad hoc fund raising efforts.

9

Museum Submarine Discussion / Need two items for the Marlin

« on: March 06, 2010, 11:31:15 PM »

I need an eyepiece for our periscope. I am not sure where to look to find a model number, just know that someone reported it was a standard scope, but had been cut a few feet short in the middle to fit the boat. I do have a design number if that would help. I want to put the eyepiece on before doing anything else in trying to get it to work.
I also need a gasket for the Engine room hatch. I am also not sure if these varied from boat to boat. I know they have all shrunk since I was on a boat, but if someone can tell me what numbers are needed to determine the size of the gasket, I'll find them. I also could just give a diameter if that would help. We have part of the material left, but it is leaking.
Thanks for the help.
Viejo

10

Website Updates and Off-Topic Discussion / Lance is the Lockwood Internet Base Shipmate of the Year for 2009

« on: March 06, 2010, 11:59:22 AM »

Last night down in Chunky,  we had a young man take a screen test and he passed with flying colors. He did a good job of showing how to be hesitant, bewildered, suspicious, reluctant, and finally totally surprised;  and all just because his wife wanted him to walk into a room. 

Because of being able to show all these emotions, she presented Lance with his LIB SOY award for 2009.  Along with Emily ( who was just about as excited as Lance) and Kara ( who just wanted to get it over with so she could dive in to all the food) were about 30 or so other friends who were proud to see Lance being honored although most had no clue what the award was for. Lance did explain to them about LIB and the award.

So because our SOY committee unanimously agreed that the member of LIB who in 2009 most exemplified what the creed of USSVI is all about, was Lance Dean, we want to let all our LIB members offer their congratulations. 

Yesterday, I sat in a meeting with a half dozen folks and in explaining where we could get some resources of supplies and expertise for some things the Marlin needed, I told them about submarine museums.org and the fine young man who has put together this website which has changed the way museum boat managers and workers work together now on things needed.  I can't think of another website produced recently which has had such a positive change in what goes on with our museum boats.

So Lance, well done and thanks for representing all that is good about LIB.

Bill   

11

Website Updates and Off-Topic Discussion / FACEBOOK Pages

« on: February 24, 2010, 03:22:38 AM »

Hey Lance, can we have another column where all the boat pages are listed to show the address for our museum boat facebook page?
That would be another source of advertising and for some of us, it is a lot easier to update and add to the facebook page than to get whomever runs the website to update their page. Oh yeah, be nice to Emily and it will pay off in the next few days. LOL
Thanks,
Bill

12

USS Marlin (SST-2) / Update on the Marlin and Freedom Park

« on: October 26, 2009, 01:28:41 PM »

Gents, wanted you to know what has been happening with the Marlin and Freedom Park.  Last week, I met with Brook Bench,  the head of Maintenance for Omaha Parks and Rec, who is in charge of keeping up over 250 parks in Omaha and the surrounding area, and with Brenda Paul,  the Special Projects Coordinator for the Parks in Omaha.  The meeting was very positive. The first thing expressed at the meeting was the passing along of thanks from the Mayor and City Council of Omaha for what we had done so far.
 Brook Bench, head of maintenance is very enthused with the park and very appreciate of what we have been able to do so far. He is bringing in one of his crews to remodel the small gazebo inside and out so we can have it for the gift shop. He also is turning on and fixing all the restrooms and will make sure the heaters in the gazebo and the Hazard are working. 
I have been asked to set up a committee to oversee the running of the park and we have already set up some short and long term plans to expand what is there. We are setting up financial accounts and have in place forms to use for tax deductible donations. We will be able to keep separate donations for those who want money to go to the Marlin or to the Hazard.
The XO of Stratcom is a Captain in the Navy who has commanded submarines and he has accepted my offer to be on the committee. We also have a retired Navy Captain who was a sub squadron commander that works for one of the contractors at Offutt and he too will be helping us out.
We are forming the USS Marlin SST-2 Base under the command of HMCS(SS) Mike Loftis. Mike is gathering applications and will be sending them to the CDC3 to get the charter back for the base. The major project for the base will be in helping out the park and serving as docents and maintenance people for the two ships.
In case I haven't mentioned it yet, we did get the outside of the Marlin scraped and painted this fall and also a helicopter and this last week the 5" gun and one of the missiles. We have had eagle scouts doing much of the painting in the park and many of the small pieces of armament have been repainted this fall.  The park is really starting to look nice again.
 This weekend, I'll be meeting with several of the volunteers to set up some priority lists of things that we want to get done this winter and what we hope to have accomplished next spring. The painting of the Hazard will be done as soon as it is warm enough next spring.
By next spring, we will be a RSVP site and will have enough volunteers from the Omaha area to be open each weekend. The goal is back to being open each day as it once was. Having a core of dedicated sub sailors will make this much easier. And I want to add that so far, each of them understand that it is a privilege to work with the park and that working on the whole park is beneficial to promoting the Marlin.  We will be using the park to have various ceremonies during the year and it will of course help us live our creed.
Also, thanks to Bill Parker, Rich Pekelney and others, we are now a HNSA site again and that is already giving us benefits that we can see.  While at the convention, I got to meet Aaron Washington, who was down there with Bill, and I will as I have been, be picking their brains for ways to make things work better.  Greg Stitz, curator of the Razorback, came up on a Saturday, bringing me a trunk load of things to display at the park and gave me much valuable advice about things as we walked around the park. He even knew what the guns were that sit around the park.
I can't  overstate the cooperation and willingness of Brenda and Brook and others from the city to allow us to be a part of the park.  You couldn't ask for better people to work for and they really appreciate what the subvets and other volunteers have done so far.  I have written up application forms and other documents for volunteers to sign and use as they come to work with the park and am writing training manuals for them to use.  We are set up with a non-profit corp. run through the city and have our first tax deductible donation going through now.
So we'll be working all winter, fixing things and getting set up for the spring and then hit the ground running.
Oh, yes, the city is redoing the web page for the park and I also am figuring how to set up an online forum for the park managment committee to us.
I'll keep all posted here as more gets done.
Bill

13

Submarine Related Chatter / New Scorpion Bumper Sticker

« on: August 04, 2009, 11:00:01 PM »

Well, guess it is OK to post about this here. If not, Lance, wipe it out.  The new Scorpion Bumper sticker is in.  Ron Martini has them or I have some also. Some of the profits are going to support the Marlin and also to support the Scorpion Memorial Association which is just a group of the families working with Art and MaryEtta Nolan who put on the Scorpion Memorial Service in Norfolk every five years. They can use some help in the cost of doing these memorials so this is a small way to help. Drop me a note if you want more info. These are small enough that they can be put on a window as a decal.
It would be nice to be driving around and see one on someone's window. Think I'll put one up on the Marlin.
Thanks,
Viejo

14

Museum Submarine Discussion / Eye piece for Periscope on the Marlin

« on: June 09, 2009, 02:26:52 PM »

Guys, after doing a lot of searching, guess we need to find an eye piece for the Periscope on the Marlin. I'll include a couple of pictures that show where it goes and the info on the periscope. any help as to who to ask or where to find one will be appreciated. Also, I am looking for some Navy blankets and sheets for the four bunks on the boat.
Thanks,
bill

15

USS Marlin (SST-2) / THE USS MARLIN WILL BE OPENING TO THE PUBLIC AGAIN SOON

« on: January 04, 2009, 12:41:14 AM »

While many details have yet to be worked out, we now have a Letter of Permission from the Parks and Recreation Maintenance Department of the City of Omaha that allows us to work on the USS Marlin to get it cleaned up and ready to open to the public again and also to act as tour guides when it is open.
This is going to be a multi-base operation under the guidance of the District 3 Commander of the Central Region of USSVI. Dave Farran and I are going up on the 12th of Jan to go through the boat and start making lists of what is there, what is missing, power that comes to the boat, things that will be needed to get certain pieces functioning. We will also be talking with the Lady in charge of the park about areas of responsibility, raising funds, setting schedules for clean up, then in the Spring getting the boat open to the public.  I will be point of contact for at least three bases and also individuals and some people who have served on the Marlin. I also intend to the information source for PR, funds, materials, etc that comes from anywhere other than through the city. I also have been talking to some other veterans as there is a Minesweeper, the USS Hazard next to the Marlin. I have already found some people in the Omaha area that are interested in working on these two ships and am putting together lists of suppliers and other Pepe that can donate things down the road as the project progresses.
The City of Omaha is very supportive and excited about having us work with them to get the Marlin open again as I am sure they feel it will generate some funds to make it more self sufficient.  We will of course be raising funds to support these efforts also.
Now what I need from some of you guys is some help in letting me know what to expect, what works, what to avoid in the areas of visitors to the boat, setting priorities as to what would be best to get working first. Also later down the road, we'll be probably trying to find items to make the galley and eating area and the three bunks look like they used to. 
We will not be competing with anything else and what money we raise will go toward the boat, but I am sure that many of you can use your experience to help me make some good decisions.  I would like to have some general ideas of what might be good to bring up  and ask for when I talk to the people in the Parks and Recreation.
So all help and suggestions are welcome. I don't have a lot of definite answers to many things because until we meet with them again and until Dave and I make up lists of what is there, what works, what is needed, I don't really know a lot. But I thought some of you  might have some management type ideas you can throw my way as I figure what we say to start with may be very important down the road. Over on the LIB BBS is a stream of conversation on this under the Jan. Meeting topic. It will give you more idea of what we have plans for and what we are working on getting done.
Thanks and hope to hear from a lot of you.
Viejo